ESS 1 The Earth and earth materials as we know them today have developed over long periods of time, through continual change processes.
ESS1 (9-11)—4 Students demonstrate an understanding of processes and change over time by …
4a describing various dating methods to determine the age of different rock structures.
National Standards:
Earth and Space Science - Content Standard D: As a result of grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding of
Origin and evolution of the earth system
Context of Lesson:
This lesson expands on the first lesson of the unit when students were introduced to fossils and methods of rock dating. The Geologic Time Scale is introduced to students, emphasizing the importance of fossils and rocks in the process of developing the chronology of Earth’s history. The warm-up question encourages students to make this connection on their own before it is addressed as a class. Next, students will work in pairs to recreate the geologic time scale in terms of a football field. This will allow students to see the magnitude of the time scale and to place the major events in Earth’s history on a scale they can comprehend. To help students remember the Periods and Eras along the time scale, students will create a pneumonic with their partner. As a class, we will then read relevant sections of the book to identify important aspects of each of the four Eras – Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozic. This information will be organized into a chart and students will create the same chart in their notebooks as a source to go back to and study from. To reinforce the magnitude of the geologic time scale, I will share some interesting factoids relating the presence of humans on Earth in relation to the 4.6 billion history of the Earth.
Webb's Level 3 (Strategic Thinking) - Use reasoning, planning, and evidence
Prerequisite Knowledge
Concepts of fossilization and dating rocks.
Perform basic math calculations and properly use a calculator.
Plans for Differentiating Instruction
Students will be grouped as to succeed in performing the football field activity. Peer-teachers will be provided for students who require the extra help/explanation.
Questions will be adjusted as needed. Higher level questions will be added to the question sheet related to the football field activity for students who can handle them, or want to be challenged.
Allow students who can handle the challenge the opportunity to figure out an equation to put the timeline (4.6 billion years) onto the football field (100 yards).
Offer students the chance to find more interesting factoids that relate to the magnitude of the geologic time scale (bring in necessary calculations as support).
Accommodations and modifications
Provide the equation (and possibly the conversions) right away for students who need it so they do not get discouraged in the activity. The goal is not to do math calculations, but to understand the magnitude of the geologic timeline.
Environmental factors
The classroom is arranged in three rows with four tables in each row. Each table has two or three students sitting at it.
Whole class opening and discussions.
Partners to complete the Football Field activity.
Whole class closing.
Materials
Football field template sheets
Calculators
Objectives:
After the lesson, students will be able to:
Identify the origin of life on Earth and other major events through Earth’s history (artifact = timeline)
Identify Periods and Eras on the geologic time scale. (artifact = timeline, pneumonic, and quiz next class)
Identify important aspects of the four Eras – Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozic. (artifact = chart in notebook)
Instruction:
Opening:
1. As students come into class, the warm-up will be written on the board – “The geologic time scale is a chronology of Earth’s history. How did scientists create this time scale?” Collect homework questions from the Rock Dating lab from last class.
2. Ask students to remember what we discussed the last class (fossils and relative/radiometric dating). "How does this relate to our topic today? Turn to page 374 in your text. How do we think scientists could have created this timescale?" Have students share their answers to the warm-up question. Don't give them the answer. (Scientists have used dating methods and careful examination of fossils to create the geologic time scale)
4. "Today we will take a closer look at the chronology of Earth’s history. Your challenge today is to shrink the geologic timescale and the major events within it into terms that we can understand more easily."
3. Go over the agenda for the class.
Engagement:
Part 1 - The Geologic Time Scale:
1. How much is one million? Ask students what it would take to hold one million gallons of water. Some responses will be a swimming pool, a football stadium. The answer is approximately two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
2. Now ask students to think about how much “a billion” is. "It is hard to do, so to help realize the magnitude of how big a billion is, we are going to take a closer look at the geologic time scale and breakdown the 4.5 billion history of the Earth."
3. Have students open their books to page 374 and look at the geologic time scale. Have them copy down the Periods and Eras into their notebooks, accompanied by the approximate time of the event (x million years ago).
4. Break students into pairs and have them use a template of a football field to create a timeline that relates to the geologic time scale.
5. Guide students with the calculations to get them started. Football field = 100 yards, so each yard = (4.6 billion/100 yards) = 46,000,000 years. Provide the following equation for students to use to figure out where the periods and eras of Earth’s history belong on the football field:
Known age of past event (years before present) =
Unknown, X (yards that correlate to event on timescale)
Known age of Earth (years before present)
100 yards (total football field length)
(Cross multiply and solve for X to get the number of yards away from the goal line for each event.
6. Provide students with the following questions to answer:
What is the difference between the origin of life and the origin of Earth
What period takes up the majority of the timescale? Which takes up the least?
Create a pneumonic with your partner to help you remember the Periods and Eras on the geologic time scale.
I'm a bit bummed because we don't get to go outside and label eras on the football field. If you did, be sure to video tape the resulting timeline from the stands. Life would appear pretty late, right?
Part 2 - Life and Changes in the Four Eras
1. One Era at a time, have students read the relevant section in the book and contribute important aspects. Create a chart on an overhead projector and have students create the same chart in their notebooks.
2. As a class create a list of the important aspects of each Era – Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozic. Be sure to include major events listed on the timeline on pages 374-375.
Closure:
1. Have students share with the rest of the class the pneumonic they came up with to remember the geologic time scale.
2. Share with students the following interesting factoids to reinforce the magnitude of the geologic time scale:
Humans blink 10,000,000 times a year. Only the last 4,000 blinks (4 hour’s worth) represent the time humans have been on the Earth.
The average human will eat 60,000 pounds of food in a lifetime. Compared to the timeline of the Earth, humans have been around for the last 24 pounds.
Of all the days in a calendar year, the dinosaurs went extinct Christmas Eve, and humans started roaming the earth at 8:30 P.M. on New Year’s Eve.
3. Have students revisit the questions from the opening of the lesson. Do they have a better handle on the magnitude of the geoligic timescale and how scientists have used fossils and rock dating to identify major events in the Earth's history?
4. For homework, students will study the geologic time scale and have a quiz on it next class.
Assessment:
Formative assessment of student answers to warm-up.
Formative assessment of students while working on Football Field Timeline
Completed timeline with appropriate labels of Eras and Periods at correct “yards.”
Formative assessment of students answers at the end of class when revisiting questions presented in the opening.
Completed chart with Eras and major events within each.
Lesson Title:
A Trip Through Geologic Time (90 minutes)State Standards: GLEs/GSEs
ESS 1 The Earth and earth materials as we know them today have developed over long periods of time, through continual change processes.ESS1 (9-11)—4 Students demonstrate an understanding of processes and change over time by …
National Standards:
Earth and Space Science - Content Standard D: As a result of grades 9-12, all students should develop an understanding ofContext of Lesson:
This lesson expands on the first lesson of the unit when students were introduced to fossils and methods of rock dating. The Geologic Time Scale is introduced to students, emphasizing the importance of fossils and rocks in the process of developing the chronology of Earth’s history. The warm-up question encourages students to make this connection on their own before it is addressed as a class. Next, students will work in pairs to recreate the geologic time scale in terms of a football field. This will allow students to see the magnitude of the time scale and to place the major events in Earth’s history on a scale they can comprehend. To help students remember the Periods and Eras along the time scale, students will create a pneumonic with their partner. As a class, we will then read relevant sections of the book to identify important aspects of each of the four Eras – Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozic. This information will be organized into a chart and students will create the same chart in their notebooks as a source to go back to and study from. To reinforce the magnitude of the geologic time scale, I will share some interesting factoids relating the presence of humans on Earth in relation to the 4.6 billion history of the Earth.Opportunities to Learn:
Depth of Knowledge
Prerequisite Knowledge
Plans for Differentiating Instruction
Accommodations and modifications
Environmental factors
Materials
Objectives:
After the lesson, students will be able to:Instruction:
Opening:
1. As students come into class, the warm-up will be written on the board – “The geologic time scale is a chronology of Earth’s history. How did scientists create this time scale?” Collect homework questions from the Rock Dating lab from last class.2. Ask students to remember what we discussed the last class (fossils and relative/radiometric dating). "How does this relate to our topic today? Turn to page 374 in your text. How do we think scientists could have created this timescale?" Have students share their answers to the warm-up question. Don't give them the answer. (Scientists have used dating methods and careful examination of fossils to create the geologic time scale)
4. "Today we will take a closer look at the chronology of Earth’s history. Your challenge today is to shrink the geologic timescale and the major events within it into terms that we can understand more easily."
3. Go over the agenda for the class.
Engagement:
Part 1 - The Geologic Time Scale:1. How much is one million? Ask students what it would take to hold one million gallons of water. Some responses will be a swimming pool, a football stadium. The answer is approximately two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
2. Now ask students to think about how much “a billion” is. "It is hard to do, so to help realize the magnitude of how big a billion is, we are going to take a closer look at the geologic time scale and breakdown the 4.5 billion history of the Earth."
3. Have students open their books to page 374 and look at the geologic time scale. Have them copy down the Periods and Eras into their notebooks, accompanied by the approximate time of the event (x million years ago).
4. Break students into pairs and have them use a template of a football field to create a timeline that relates to the geologic time scale.
5. Guide students with the calculations to get them started. Football field = 100 yards, so each yard = (4.6 billion/100 yards) = 46,000,000 years. Provide the following equation for students to use to figure out where the periods and eras of Earth’s history belong on the football field:
6. Provide students with the following questions to answer:
- What is the difference between the origin of life and the origin of Earth
- What period takes up the majority of the timescale? Which takes up the least?
- Create a pneumonic with your partner to help you remember the Periods and Eras on the geologic time scale.
I'm a bit bummed because we don't get to go outside and label eras on the football field. If you did, be sure to video tape the resulting timeline from the stands. Life would appear pretty late, right?Part 2 - Life and Changes in the Four Eras
1. One Era at a time, have students read the relevant section in the book and contribute important aspects. Create a chart on an overhead projector and have students create the same chart in their notebooks.
2. As a class create a list of the important aspects of each Era – Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozic. Be sure to include major events listed on the timeline on pages 374-375.
Closure:
1. Have students share with the rest of the class the pneumonic they came up with to remember the geologic time scale.2. Share with students the following interesting factoids to reinforce the magnitude of the geologic time scale:
- Humans blink 10,000,000 times a year. Only the last 4,000 blinks (4 hour’s worth) represent the time humans have been on the Earth.
- The average human will eat 60,000 pounds of food in a lifetime. Compared to the timeline of the Earth, humans have been around for the last 24 pounds.
- Of all the days in a calendar year, the dinosaurs went extinct Christmas Eve, and humans started roaming the earth at 8:30 P.M. on New Year’s Eve.
3. Have students revisit the questions from the opening of the lesson. Do they have a better handle on the magnitude of the geoligic timescale and how scientists have used fossils and rock dating to identify major events in the Earth's history?4. For homework, students will study the geologic time scale and have a quiz on it next class.
Assessment:
Reflections
(only done after lesson is enacted)Student Work Sample 1 – Approaching Proficiency:
Student Work Sample 2 – Proficient:
Student Work Sample 3 – Exceeds Proficiency:
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